Heritage
by Storm Uchiha
Summary: Dr. Derek Stiles is at the top of his career but when an illness starts to show in the surgeon's body is it really just a cough or is it more? And why is he having all these strange dreams? Between fighting for his life and trying to figure out a cure will he make it? Slight crossover with Trauma Team.
1. Prologue:

_i"I'm sorry Mrs. Stiles...I can not promise your son being spared from the illness that took your husband." The voice was clipped, cold, Derek knew it was the same voice that pronounced his father dead just two weeks ago. He was at the office of this doctor being put through several exams unaware of how serious it was._

_He was listening in. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. "No! No he can't die like he did! Not my baby..."_

"_I'm sorry."_

_Derek covered his ears not wanting to hear anymore his nine year old body shaking as he ran back to the exam room trying to block out the words._

_It was a lie, he was lying, he wanted to see Mom hurt. It had to be a lie./i_

Derek Stiles awoke with a start. That dream was occurring a lot more frequently then it had before. He groaned resting his head against his hand. The world spun and his chest ached.

He had been feeling these symptoms for a few days now. He decided if it didn't get better at the end of the week he would get checked out.

After resting for a few moments as the dizzy spell passed he slipped his glasses on and got out of bed. He didn't want to be late to work. Angie might chew him out for it.

_iStill I can't shake this bad feeling.../i_ He thought slipping on his labcoat after getting ready. Grabbing his car keys he headed out.

Coming to a stop he felt more chest pains as his breathing started to become effected. The surgeon mentally cursed trying to inhale and exhale until he was able to move his car away from the stop sign.

_iWhat's wrong with me?/i_

Little did he know...Things were going to get very bad, very fast.


	2. Chapter 1: The beginning of the end

The attack didn't stop until he was forced to pull over to try and catch his breath. Derek gripped his chest resting his head against the steering wheel, willing it to pass.

When it finally did he was dizzy again. "Damn it..." He muttered. _I have to get to Caduceus and deal with it TODAY...I don't want to call an ambulance for myself..._

As suddenly as the dizzy feeling came it too passed. Derek sighed hoarsely pulling out from where he parked and went on his way.

He was not sure what he was going to do about his predicament.

Once he got to Caduceus he felt alright for the time being. He had no time to worry about himself he reasoned considering he had an operation to do that day.

He was not going to let his patient suffer because of him.

Checking the time he noted he had a half hour before the surgery. "Good I have time..."

_At least time to compose myself..._

Normally Derek would not ignore his coworkers but this day in particular he ignored even Tyler and Angie as he went to his office.

His mind was on what was going on with his body. It startled him to have an attack like that suddenly.

Sitting at his desk he gave a sigh making note it sounded hoarse like he had something in his lungs.

_Could it...Be PGS? I did have GUILT...Or...That dream..._ He mentally sighed and tried to focus.

Then...It happened.

His pager went off. The message was: The patient is going into cardiac arrest hurry!

Derek swore and adrenaline took over as he lept up from his desk chair and bolted to the operating room. Tyler and Angie were already trying to revive the patient. "The AED? Is it charged?" Derek demanded as he injected a dose of epinephrine into the patient.

"Here!" Leslie passed it to him as Tyler and Angie cleared away.

Pressing the paddles into the patient's chest Derek prayed it would work. "CLEAR!"

Nothing yet. "Charging at three hundred!" Again. "CLEAR!"

A series of beeps from the heart monitor was like a melody to his ears. "Alright intubate the patient and administer the anesthesia. Let me get scrubbed in."

Adrenaline was still working as Derek washed up scrubbing in for the operation at hand.

As soon as he was ready he walked into the OR. "Let's begin the operation!" He called out in a clear voice.

Little did he know...This was only the beginning.

The incision was made after gel was applied to the area. The patient had a severe issue with anuerysms on the heart...And they had burst. "Tch...! Get me the drain Angie! Tyler keep the vitals up!"

"On it!"

"You got it." The drain now in hand Derek proceeded to clear the field of blood. The arteries pulled back together using the sutures some needing a synthetic one instead to replace what had been damaged.

Derek's eyes glanced away only for a moment to look at the vitals himself...Before that horrible sound of a flatline rang out!

"I'm massaging the heart!" Derek barked as he gently cradled the patient's heart in his hand starting the heart massage.

_Don't die on me...Come on Derek focus!_ Once the pulse was back he used the ultrasound.

Large pockets on blood beneath the tissue's surface. "...Set a transfusion..."

Taking the scalpel in his hand he closed his eyes. Breaths became fast and even as he slashed quickly through the air forming the star...Normally it was in his mind.

The man's colleague's noted this as he began to move at an alarming speed. Vitals had been dropping. Before Angie could administer it Derek had already upped the vitals with stabilizer. The incision in less then five minutes sutured shut, disinfected and bandaged.

Releasing the gift he used he glanced around him giving a goofy grin. "Operation comple-" He started to cough and hack as the pain returned in his chest.

"Derek!"

"What's wrong?" Tyler and Angie were at his side in an instant the patient being hurried out of the room. Derek could hardly breathe. It felt like his throat was clamping shut on him. He pointed to his chest and up at his throat making small sounds of pain and gasps for air.

His vision faded as he fell unconscious.

Respiratory arrest hit. Tyler's eyes widened as he realized this laying Derek on the floor and starting chest compression's. "Angie get the hand respirator and start pumping the oxygen in!" The fallen doctor's mouth had fallen open as he passed out so it was relatively easy for it to be placed.

"Come on man stay with us!"

After two agonizing minutes...Derek started to cough gasping for breath. "SOMEONE GET A STRETCHER!"

Hours passed Derek was in a room resting, his face partially covered by an oxygen mask his scrubs replaced with a hospital gown. Monitors and an IV hooked up to him.

Blood had been taken to be analyzed.

Derek however wasn't exactly in his right mind as he dreamt...

Of a sign.


	3. Chapter 2: Dreams and memories

__

He woke up in a dark realm with a massive headache. "Arrgh.. Where am I?" He stood up clumsily and fell back down to his knees instantly, gripping his hair as it felt like the dimension itself were tumbling around him trying to keep him off balance on purpose. 

_The surgeon let out a hiss as he tried to get back up._

_The air was moving around him causing his clothes to move and his hair to float up a little._

_The dark realm suddenly became blue...Oceanic blue. Corals appeared, different schools of fish swam by him._

_Why was he in the sea? Wasn't he just operating? _

_It has to be a dream...But...It doesn't feel like it..._ _Derek thought looking around him. It was so surreal...But this sea didn't look like the one he knew existed in his time._

_It looked so..Primitive...Different creatures...Different fish..._

_He heard something and glanced up from where he was crouched against a rock...A large whale._

_The whale let out a sound as something charged at it and bit into it's side...A large shark._

_It was bigger then anything he ever saw._

_Before he realized what was happening he was swimming upwards. He had to get away._

_I have to warn them. I have to stop them! But who do I have to stop? _

_They're in danger...__ These thoughts confused him making his headache even worse. He wasn't even sure if it was really his body._

_His hands didn't look like his...He was moving faster then he ever had before in water._

_Then he saw them...Creatures with large eyes...Coloring to match their surroundings. They swam with young...With injured._

_It hit him...These were 'them'. He called out to them feeling surprised it wasn't his voice...But a strange sound he let out instead._

_The warning was there though. But they stopped, looking confused. A small one that could only be a child looked at him grabbing onto a female._

_I won't see her find her mate...__ He thought taking notice of the weight in his hands._

_A weapon...He glanced down the shark planning to sneak up on them._

_He knew what he had to do._

_Taking a deep breath Derek swam back shaking his head._

_The weapon in hand...He slashed across his chest grimacing at the pain the laceration created. Blood colored his area red._

_The others swam away understanding now._

_Glancing up at the sun above he closed his eyes...The end was near the shark's vibrations being heard through his skull._

_Everything went dark..._

_The scene changed before him...To a memory he remembered fondly._

"_Mommy! Mommy look! Are you gonna watch me mommy?" Derek watched as his four year old self splashed around as he jumped in the shallow water excited about something._

_They were on the beach near their home. He rememberd it had been before his father's death...Derek swallowed hard watching his mother Lisbeth Stiles smile softly at her son. Taking off her sun hat she joined him taking his hand. "Of course Derek...Come on now let's see what the warriors of our people have passed down to you."_

"_Our people?"_

_The memory fizzled out._

_His head was pounding as he grabbed it the dark realm showing memories. Of the beach, of his father...Of Angie and his co-workers at Caduceus._

_GUILT..._

_The healing touch._

_Wait! He started imagining it. He opened his eyes looking at his dominant hand. It was glowing faintly with a blue light._

_He slashed the air as he had in the OR as fast as he could. Multiple times stars were created._

_But the pain was only worse. "AUGH!" _

Derek jolted up in bed breathing heavily. The dream was over but...He was still having a hard time breathing.

He glanced around him. He was hospitalized he realized with a mental groan. He knew he was going to get it now.

Tyler appeared in the doorway looking grim. "Derek...We found out what's causing the problem..."

Derek waited for the answer.

"...It's complications from PGS..."


	4. Chapter 3: Let's begin the dream?

He looked up at the clock. He was in the Pre-Op area of Caduceus USA.

His hands were clenched over his chest grateful the curtain was drawn around where his bed sat. It had been three hours since Tyler had explained to him what had happened. He had tumors on his heart and in his lungs, toxicosis, his blood pressure was alarmingly low. There wasn't any choice in the matter. It was either sign the consent form for them to operate or slowly die.

His brown eyes narrowed at the memory. Dying was not an option. No matter what.

He requested total solitude until he was to be taken in. Glancing up at the clock he noted he had one hour left.

Reaching over to the table next to him Derek stifled a cough as his oxygen mask was knocked out of place. Replacing it himself he pulled up his mother's number. She had to be home at this time she just had to.

He needed to hear a familiar voice. Someone who wasn't going to be elbow deep in his internal organs.

Shakily dialing he held the phone to his ear.

_Pick up...Please pick up...Mother please..._

"Hello?" She sounded tired he noted. "Derek? What's going on? Shouldn't you be at work?"

He couldn't control the coughing fit that hit him seconds later. It lasted for a minute but left his chest aching and the feeling of dread increase. "Mom...Remember when I told you I had surgery after...You know what?"

"Yes...How can I not? You scared me half to death!"

"Well...Remember PGS?"

"PGS...Oh god Derek no you-you have it?"

He sighed noticing the increased pitch in her voice and worry evident. Oh how he regretted calling now. "Mom my number just came up...And it's become more dangerous. It moved to my lungs...They're operating in an hour...I just...I just needed to hear your voice..." Derek cursed how quiet his voice had gotten. The fear he was feeling caught up to him. It's not that he didn't trust the people he worked with to help him.

It was just there. The risks he knew too well.

"Derek...Do you need me to come down there?"

'W-what? No! I'll be fine...I'll call you after I get out of the OR...It's gonna be fine I promise..." He brushed her off as Lisbeth Stiles sighed. Though he couldn't see it he knew she was likely standing infront of the window in their living room overlooking the beach.

"Derek...Your my son...Listen...Do your best...Stay strong...Your as strong as the warriors of our people and you know it..."

"I really wish you'd tell me what these 'people' were..." He tried to lighten it but when she said it, it reminded him of the dream .It felt too real to be just a dream.

"...All in good time my little one...All in good time." She assured him. "I'll explain when your not about to go into cardiac arrest."

"Mom! I'm (cough)(cough) Not going into cardiac arrest." He replied wincing feeling a sharp pang in the right side of his chest. Another glance at the clock confirmed he still had time. He may have to just ask to be taken in sooner. He wasn't sure how much longer he could take it.

"You sound like you hacked up a lung..." She sighed in worry. "I'm your mother...It's my job to worry about you. Derek Tobias Stiles..." A warning tone was in her voice. Derek inwardly flinched remembering how many times she used that same tone before scolding him as a kid. "You better not be critical when you wake up or I swear to god I'll tell HER about how you feel."

He swallowed hard. "Mother I will be fine just whatever you do don't tell Angie-" He was cut off by a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't tell me what?" Derek nearly droppped the phone looking to his assistant.

"...Don't tell you that it was me who dented your car last month." He said quickly.

Everyone knew Tyler had been the culprit with his car except for her.

She narrowed her eyes. "...It's almost time.."

"Just...Give me a moment please." He gulped before going back to his previous conversation. "I have to go..."

"Remember your promise you...I can't lose you either...If I lost you...I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I love you."

"Love you too...Goodbye." He hung up and handed his phone over. "Ready..." He said softly.

Angie noted the tremble in his voice. He looked paler then he did, his eyes dull behind his glasses.

She hoped he was strong enough to survive the operation.

Unhooking the wheels on his bed he was taken to the OR.

Once he was on the table and put under Tyler began the operation.

_Derek you better live...Or I swear to god I'm going to kill you._

/

_He was in a dark realm again. Only this time he wasn't alone._

_Not totally._

_Glancing around he felt...Chilled. But it was a good chill he reasoned. It felt good. He wasn't in any pain._

_Moving forward he noticed there was a faint glow but where was it coming from?_

_Looking around he couldn't see anything._

_Then he realized where it was coming from when he went to brush his hair out of his eyes. It was coming off of him._

_A faint blue glow. "What is this?"  
_

/

"DAMN IT! Charge it again!" How could this be happening? It had been going well until his heart started to go into arrest. Tyler snarled pressing the paddles against Derek's chest as the shock was delivered the man's body jumping slightly off the table.

Nothing.

"AGAIN! Charge it at three hundred! Get a dose of epinephrine into him stat!"

/

"_Hmm..." He examined where this glow was coming from. It seemed to solidify when he focused._

_That's when he noticed...On the palms of his hands were stars. Glowing stars._

_Glancing down he realized he wasn't wearing a shirt or even the hospital gown he had been wearing previously. Long lines that glowed faintly ran up his arms and ended in curves towards his abdomen. On his chest was another large star with swirling designs at the two points going left and right. Touching them out of curiousity he winced. "Ow.' He hissed. That had hurt. Something told him not to try again._

_/_

The heart monitor blared out the heartbeat that had returned. Tossing the paddles back onto the crash cart, Tyler lifted a scalpel off the tray. "Continuing. Leslie, Angie keep at the ready. Watch his damn heart beat." He growled.

"Understood."

"On it."

Continuing with the PGS treatment he injected more of the toxicosis serum. Using the ultrasound shadows appeared as he sliced into them draining the cytoplasm of the tumors on Derek's heart. Injecting stabilizer to be safe he started removal.

_Derek I swear to god I am SO hitting you upside the head if you arrest on me again. _

/

_Moving upwards the dark world turned lighter. It was a familiar blue color._

_It brought a slight smile to his face as he continued moving upwards. Glancing around him the tide moved his hair around as if it was wind. The chill was still there but it felt so good. Taking in a deep breath Derek allowed himself a laugh. It didn't even hurt to breathe anymore._

_Creatures swam around him, cautious of him. Good, he didn't want to touch them either._

_No...He wanted...He wanted to chase them._

_Taking off a childish side he hadn't known since he was young re-emerged as the young man played around with the fish watching them try to hide only to get startled when he tapped hard on the rocks._

_Hearing a sound he heard somewhere before Derek glanced up. At first fear gripped him. Was that a shark?_

_Squinting he realized no...A grin spread across his face. This was a friend._

_/_

Tyler fell into a heap in the chair next to Dr. Derek Stiles bedside. The surgery was done. He was exhausted, the man's vitals had fallen so low. It was like he was giving up right before his eyes.

What confused the surgeon the most was the condition of Derek's lungs. The discoloration hadn't faded after treatment. No...If anything part of them looked like the flesh had died right there. He took a sample and Victor was running tests on it.

He sighed. He really didn't want to call HIM but...He was stumped. It would be better Tyler reasoned to have one more person trying to figure out what was making Derek so sick.

Giving Derek's, form a glance the man still unconscious from the anesthestics he left going to his office locking the door.

Lifting the phone off the hook he dialed. "...Gabe? It's Tyler...We need your help."

The diagnostician on the other side sighed. "What? I'm in the middle of trying to prove these idiots I'm working with wrong-"

"Derek may be dying."

"...WHAT?!"

/

"_Hahahaha!" Derek laughed chasing after a person in the sea of his mind._

_Long blond hair, bright green eyes and a smile that made his heart skip a beat even in his dreams._

"_Come on you slow poke!"_

_"Angie wait up!"  
_

_The creature from before had been a dolphin but in his mind it had transformed into the woman he had harbored a crush on for a few years now. It felt great. _

_Unaware that when he awoke there would be news that would make him forever want to remain in the dreams._


	5. Chapter 4: Facing the truth

She stood in the shallows of the beach reminiscing. A plastic bottle clutched in her hand.

She remembered when she used to bring her son who was now long since grown to these very waters.

"I hope he's alright..." She sighed recalling the phone call she received just a half hour earlier. Derek was out of surgery yes but if anything he was still in danger.

Lisbeth Stiles feared this would happen. One day it would catch up to him they had warned her but she brushed it off. After all if it would hurt him it would have done it a long time ago surely?

No...She shook her head. She had to focus on what she was doing. As a wave rolled in she knelt silently smiling at the feeling the cold water gave her as she filled the water bottle not minding in the least that a little bit of debrie from it came into the bottle.

Standing fully she twisted a cap onto it and walked out of the ankle deep water wringing out her skirt as she did so. "He's going to kill me for this one." She muttered giving a small smirk.

_But this should help him...It did so long ago..._

/

When he awoke Derek was disoriented mainly due to the drugs as he came out of the trip the anesthesia gave him.

Briefly he believed he was still in the ocean of his dreams before it hit him that he was in a hospital room once more.

The surgeon gave a small sigh wincing at how much it hurt just to do that. Didn't they just operate to fix that very problem? Glancing around him he noticed someone slumped in a chair.

A small smile played at his lips at the woman, her head bobbed to the side as her uniform was wrinkled and in disarray. Angie had stayed by his side.

_That's Angie for you...Always by your side..._ In the back of his mind he hoped she didn't hurt her neck sleeping like that.

He was about to drift off when a voice startled him. "Derek! Your awake..." Tyler had been coming in to check on him and was relieved to say the least to see him conscious.

"Yeah..." He muttered coughing a little after. _Of course if it hurts to breathe it'll hurt worse to talk..._

"You got very lucky..." Tyler hesitated to tell him about the abnormalities still undergoing testing. Stress could make him worse. "...Let me get Angie out of here for you.."

"Tyler...It still hurts to breathe."

"I'll get you a nebulizer in a second."

Derek mentally hit his head against a wall. _There's something he's not telling me..._

About an hour later he was set up with the nebulizer and sleeping off the medication when someone crept into his room.

The person shook their head placing their hand on the young man's head. "So this is what they've done to you..."

From their perspective no one could recognize Derek as his former self. He was pale, his breathing raspy, his hair was in tangles and his face was flushed from a fever that had set in.

_He looks just like his father when he was ill..._

"Derek..."

/

"_Hm?" Derek looked around him. He expected the sea again as his dreams seemed to be favoring his childhood love of the bay near his home._

_But no...This time things were flashing._

_Images, visions. _

_A flash of red. Something moving looking almost as a fan as it seemed to shut. Someone crying out in pain. "DEREK HELP ME!"_

_A scalpel, his tool of the trade only it was being used to harm._

"_SOMEONE PLEASE!"_

_The water, it was everywhere it was on everything but it was stained red. He thrashed against the waves as the red turned to white water around him. Derek cried out as something slashed against his chest. More red appeared only there was something else as it became calm._

_Dark brown hair, long pale arms sprawled against a rock of coral. Moans were heard as he swam closer._

_Who is that...?_

_The person looked up being a boy of about sixteen or seventeen. He saw Derek and Derek saw him._

_The boy pushed off of the rock propelling backwards as he showed the cuts on his chest face and arms. _

_As well as the long blood red tail that as it moved opened and closed like a fan that was attached to him._

_The strange...Creature infront of him faded as did the ocean around him. Derek fell onto hard ground in a dark realm again._

_Everything hurt, it hurt to breathe, it hurt to think, it even hurt to blink._

_Derek cried out as everything became illuminated. Shapes, forms, some felt threatening to him, such as the image of a large shark eerily came past._

_The man was crouched into almost an upright ball on the ground as more shapes approached him._

_But this felt safe. This felt familiar. One approached him as a smaller one arched and turned grabbing onto the bigger one._

_Then he remembered. He dreamt about it once. He put a hand to his chest and brought it back._

_There was blood on his hand. "That..."_

_Derek refused to believe it at first._

_But he reasoned he had seen man made diseases that nearly took out the planet, a gift bestowed to him to heal people._

_It was possible._

_No...It was real._

"_That..Creature..." He murmured looking up as the figures took their true images of the strange tailed creatures he had seen once before. _

_They swam around him in the air as he stood. _

_Derek Stiles took a deep breath narrowing his eyes. He had to admit it aloud he knew._

_"That creature...WAS ME!"_

_/_

"No come on! Come on!" He was coding again, CPR wasn't bringing him back so far.

Lisbeth Stiles stood off to the side remembering just a year ago something else had happened in another part of the family.

_One was thriving and yet dying...And Derek might die if he doesn't discover soon._


	6. Chapter 5 Tails of Red and Blue hues

"_That Creature..." Derek growled to himself once more standing in the darkness the creatures moving around him stars forming on his hands and chest as his glasses disappeared from his face._

"_WAS ME!"_

_/_

"We got a pulse!"

Derek was still unconscious but what couldn't be seen was the change that was evident to happen to him.

If he didn't die trying.

/

_Heh one year ago who would have thought I would be able to be here..._

The sea was a beautiful place.

Even more so in the Twilight Layer...Where not even many camera's could travel.

That's where he felt safest. He swam quickly and fast trying to catch up with the current.

A long red tail fanned it's monofin shut as he gained speed.

The sea was not his home no...How he wished it could be but he could never leave land behind forever.

He was just a visitor.

In the darkness the markings of red stars on his palms and swirled designs on his arms glowed faintly as he swam around quickly fanning his tail out.

Eyes fixating on a rock to rest on he went to do so but stopped seeing another image glowing in the darkness.

This was different...But not in a way the young person thought was strange.

The figure too had a tail but it was straight and the fin couldn't be snapped shut at a moment's notice...There was a faint almost yellow glow to them as bio-luminescence took charge for providing light.

They didn't look human not even in the slightest. Yet as they made eye contact there was a mutual understanding.

They were of different origins yet not.

The boy, Ethan backed up letting the other mermaid have his space before he swam off as his stomach growled.

He could have swore he saw some squid swim north.

_I wonder how cousin Derek's doin'...Heard from mom that he's finally starting to show it but Aunt Lisbeth can't get him outta the hospital. Just like when I started to show..._

Ethan after enjoying a hunt of his own swam up for him was hours as he took in the scenery around him. He would stop every now and then to rest but continued on.

The ocean was apart of his blood. On land he was just Ethan Martino the freak of the class but down here nothing else mattered but him, the sea and everything else around him that was in it.

Dark brown hair floated in front of his eyes as he fanned out his tail moving up bobbing his head out of the water suppressing a shiver as wind picked up.

The boy sweatdropped a little realizing he had gone farther off shore then he wanted to. His mother understood the need to embrace this ability in order to stay alive.

He learned the hard way that three months is the max amount of time one can spend out of the sea after getting the tail.

Though that didn't stop him from going in as often as he wished.

_At least it only happens in Salt Water...I'm not one of the fresh water ones...Or one of the ones who still needs to breathe air..._ He thought recalling the other person down below.

Ethan noticed a ship and quickly dove back down disappearing into the undertow surrounding himself in sea-weed as he waited out the boat's passing.

He knew better then to stay where he might get caught. If he got caught in this form surely he was dead meat.

Once it seemed safe Ethan was about to start the long swim to shore knowing an off beaten path that had enough sand that would keep him high and dry until his tail reverted back to his legs and he could bike ride home again.

Only hearing a familiar noise as he looked up a pod of dolphins playing above him. A smile blossomed on his face.

His mother wouldn't mind surely if he spent at least ten minutes playing around right?

And so Ethan did as he thought was right.

Until suddenly things became quiet.

"_That creature..."_ The boy heard faintly in his mind as he felt a burning pain in his chest where a certain surgeon was finding a phantom cut.

"_WAS ME!"_

His markings burned as he clutched his hands into fists and screamed but it was muffled by the water.

The factor was...It was abnormal, it was scary, he didn't know why he felt or heard it...But he knew the voice.

There wasn't any time for kidding around.

He swam as fast as he could to shore using a trick he had as he rolled himself into the dry sand. The more moisture was gone from his body the faster he could start heading home.

He still had a few red scales on his waist and ankles when he started peddling his bike back home.

Something was wrong.

Ethan only hoped...He didn't hear his cousin die before he could feel the pull of the sea for himself.

"Please don't be dead."

/

_Derek was still in the dream realm that was now a sea replaying what he had experienced first hand._

_His body was different now though._

_He was curled upright into a ball against a rock. His glasses gone, his hair flowing in the current as blue stars on his hands and chest glowed brightly. _

_Swirled markings traveled up his arms that also glowed but it wasn't as bright._

_Instead of legs though.._

_He had a tail that was teal e in color but seemed to have different hues. He didn't dwell on it._

_All he knew was he was in this form now...And he wasn't even sure if he was really asleep and dreaming or living a hell._

_And yet...It felt so right. The tail felt right in his mind. Like this was what he was waiting for._

"_Please don't be dead."_

"_What? I'm not dead!"_

_Closing his eyes he imagined the sea he used to travel in these dreams previously._

_As the scene of a life long since dead, of a wound he felt to the very core of himself it brought on the sea of his dreams._

_The bright corals, the animals, the aquatic plant life. _

_Uncurling his tail Derek shoved off the rock...And moved as if it was always apart of himself._

_Any normal person would have found it odd._

_But Derek? Nothing ever felt so right._

"_This sea...This tail..."_

_He shook his head. "It's not a dream..." He murmured as he floated feeling the chill that felt perfect against his body, the faint warmth he got from his new markings, the ability to just breathe again without feeling like it was going to be his last._

"_This is where it's safe...This is home...No...Not home...But damn close to it..."_

_If he knew beforehand that this dream world was about to crash down on him...He would have done whatever it took to prevent it._

_But the cards were not dealt to him in a way he wished._

_Even before he was born._

/

"We need to get him into the OR now!"

"What!?"

Tyler was busy trying to keep Derek stable as staff buzzed around him.

He totally forgot about Lisbeth's presence until she reached over her son's unconscious form and slapped him across the face. "OW! What the hell!? Are you nuts?"

The glare in the woman's eyes said otherwise. "Don't touch him again." She growled.

"Lady I'm trying to save your son if your so blind!" Even this was getting to the normally cheerful doctor.

"Let me clarify...I DON'T GIVE CONSENT. I'm his family I give the consent you can even check your little regulations!"

"I can override that by claiming your insanity-Is it ready yet for the love of god!?" Tyler countered growing frustrated by the minute.

Lisbeth felt an urge that was only maternal instincts as she slammed her hand down on the side table. "I SAID GET AWAY FROM MY SON!" She screamed. "You have no idea what you'll do to him if you try anything on his body right now!"

"And how do you know what will!?"

She became quiet. She hesitated before looking at her son's face contorted in pain even in his unconscious state. She couldn't keep it a secret...Not when his life was at stake. "Keep him stable please but give him a chance to get past this on his own...Please I'm begging you! If he doesn't wake up or improve at all then you can ignore me and do surgery on him...Please."

Tyler considered her request. He could ignore it and have her thrown out but something inside of him told him against that.

"Fine...You have three hours."

"Thank you..."

/

Ethan burst through the door of his house. "Hey mom did we get any calls from-"

"Not yet."

"Damn it!"

The boy's mother looked at her son with a worried look. "Ethan? Baby what's wrong?"

His stormy grey eyes looked into her blue ones with utter seriousness.

"I think he just died..."


	7. Chapter 6: Transform

Three hours.

She had three hours to wake Derek up and help him awaken fully before they potentially killed him.

_It's not a disease...Alex had the same effect but..._ Lisbeth felt a pang of guilt remembering just how her husband had fallen ill.

_It was because I exchanged blood with him...Granted there wasn't any choice...He was going to die without blood a-and we matched types...But he didn't show any effects like Derek is now...Like Ethan did before him...Like I and my sister did..._ "Damn it Derek...Please wake up..."

_I don't trust them...There I said it. Derek trusted them to save him and instead they did their job but put him in the ICU doing it..._

_No...I should have told him years ago..._

_/Flashback.../_

"_Momma...Momma..." Seven year old Derek had woken her up in the middle of the night a few months after the passing of Derek's father._

_His face was flushed with a high fever and he was having trouble breathing. Holding her only child in her arms she reached into her nightstand drawer pulling out a water bottle containing her 'cure all' for something like this in her son._

_Pure salt water. Holding the bottle to his lips he drank a few gulps not letting out a single complaint. "Momma why does that work and medicine doesn't?" She had tried giving him medication a few times when he was ill but unfortunately for him he just threw it back up. The salt water eased it somehow._

_Derek didn't know that years later this 'home remedy' would be crucial. "It's a family secret Derek...I'll explain when your older okay baby?" She gave him a reassuring look as his big brown eyes fluttered shut satisfied for the time being with the answer. Tired he cuddled up against her as he fell back asleep._

_Lisbeth's smile faded as she sighed. "Oh if only I could tell you..."_

_What Derek never knew...What she had kept from him for years was before she found out she was pregnant, Alex and Lisbeth Stiles were in a near fatal car crash._

_Alex had lost so much blood and he needed a transfusion right there._

_He knew of her secret and he still allowed her blood to be placed into him._

_For you see...When someone who could become a mermaid in the sea exchanged blood with someone who was not of that descent it was almost guaranteed that days later maybe years later the effects would start to show and they wouldn't have a say._

_It would be transform and embrace this new power or die trying to reverse it. _

_Unfortunately years later when Alex showed the effects she couldn't even sneak him out of the hospital. He died not because of a 'genetic disease' but because of something else._

_Something deep down she knew was all her fault._

/end flashback/

"And now Derek's going to die too if I don't get him out of here..." She murmured.

She was alone for the time being excluding Derek. "Derek please...You need to wake up now..."

Just the beeping of the monitors attached to him greeted her.

"Derek...You will DIE if you don't wake up." She couldn't believe what she was about to do.

Standing over her son Lisbeth brought her left hand back bracing herself before she did it...

She slapped him...Hard.

/

"_OW!" Derek felt it as his tail reverted back to his legs his markings fading as did the sea around him._

_A white light engulfed him as he awoke._

_/_

"Ow!" He hissed as he awoke feeling his cheek throb a little from the backhand he had received.

Derek opened his eyes flinching at the light as his mother's image came into view blurry due to his lack of glasses. "Mom?"

_D-did she just bitch slap me?_

He didn't have much time to react as she pushed a plastic bottle to his lips. "Derek drink this. Now. You have two hours before they drag your ass into surgery and possibly kill you. This will help just like it did years ago."

He faintly remembered some home remedy and willingly drank the substance shakily gripping the bottle with his own hand soon finishing at least half of it.

Almost instantly there was a reaction as the dull pain he felt faded, it wasn't a chore to breathe anymore.

There was also a noticeable warmth on the back of his hands his arms and chest.

Derek looked at Lisbeth. "...Mom...Those stories.." His voice was clear again as he gave her a harsh look. "Of 'warriors' of 'our' people...Weren't just stories were they?"

"..You figured it out...How-"

"...I'll explain later."

She facepalmed. "Derek Tobias Stiles you are as stubborn as your father was...Listen I will explain on the way..." She tried to reason with him.

"Whatever it is..." Derek began slowly. "I think I figured it out already..No...I'm positive I did."

As good as it was to be able to speak again and not feel like every breath he took was going to send him into respiratory arrest there was an urgency he felt.

"I want out of here." He said. "Get me my street clothes..."

"Derek you know I can't just do that-"

"Mother...Something isn't right and you know it...As much as I trust them...As much as I care about them and would trust them with my life normally." He chose his words carefully. "...I have to trust myself and my body more right now. Right now...It feels like something's calling me."

"That my son...Is your Heritage."

He allowed himself a grin as he took off the oxygen mask for the first time in awhile. "Figured as much."

/

"Ethan stop pacing."

"I can't."

"Stop it."

"I can't."

"I said-"

"MOM!" For the past few hours Ethan was pacing in his living room feeling like something was about to happen.

Something good. "Listen...Just listen to me." He started. "...I think we need to go to the beach near where Aunt Lisbeth lives."

Allison looked at her son in disbelief. "Ethan that's almost an hour away."

He grinned. "Not by tail."

She groaned facepalming. "It's that fantail of yours...It speaks more then you half the time."

"Just how I prefer it...Come on something's gonna happen...I can feel it..."

He went to the door and stopped turning to her. "Besides...Listen hard..."

Opening the window there was a sound only they could hear.

The sound of many voices traveling fast.

"Remember when I got the tail and you had to haul me into the water and suddenly around us...They...Were everywhere?"

"...It's happening again then. Come on let's go." She said as mother and son...

Mermaid and merman headed out not even bothering to go for the woman's car.

They ran as fast as they could before leaping into the water.

Bright red and orange tails replaced their legs as they swam on. If they hurried they wouldn't miss it.

/

It took an hour to get Derek settled into a wheelchair in his labcoat and regular clothing once more.

It was not an easy task to disconnect all the monitors and machines without nearly setting the alarm off.

He couldn't help it though...He was excited. There was this feeling of finally having an answer.

_I'm not sick...This is apart of me and damn it I'm going to experience it..._ If his dreams were any indication there was a high chance he was going to finally have his answer right there in the water. "Does it happen fast?"

"Not until your completely submerged." His mother replied quietly as she helped the surgeon cover himself partially with the sheet off the bed to hide just who was being 'broken out' of Caduceus.

Unfortunately for them they forgot one detail.

Angie. She saw them and paged for assistance at the entrance to stop them. She didn't know as she quietly tailed them.

"More water please?"

"Of course." Downing the last of the salt water reserve Derek felt ready to face what was to come.

Only to realize that at the entrance there was Victor Tyler even Sidney.

This was not Derek's day as his coworkers seemed disappointed and worried.

Scratch that.

They were.

"I'm sorry." Angie said from behind the mother and son. "But you can't leave in your condition Derek."

"...Excuse me then for doing something you all won't expect then." Derek said lowly. "It's my damn life and my damn body. I want out of this place now and I'm not afraid of shoving you all out of my way to get there..."

"Derek."

_Time is running short..._

"Dude listen to yourself..." Tyler sighed.

"Derek your condition could flare up at any time. You need to remain hospitalized for the time being-" Sidney began.

Derek held up his hand signaling him to let the younger surgeon speak. "I have a proposition for you...You all want to know why I'm so desperate now to get out of here after just waking up? ...Come with us then. I'll show you."

His eyes held determination. "And if I suddenly code on the beach you can say we told you so and keep me in the ICU and do whatever you want."

A few minutes of debating later there was an obvious sign they noticed.

Derek looked better he was talking fine and he seemed to be breathing fine.

Whatever caused the change...They didn't seem to have much of a choice. Lisbeth was ready to beat them out of her way and Derek didn't seem like he'd mind it either.

An agreement was made.

And so began the journey.

Derek just hoped he made it there in one piece.

/

"_He's coming."_

"_The one who has been reborn."_

"_He's returned to his birthplace."_

"_He's coming."_

"_Soon."_

"_I can feel his presence. He's getting closer."_

"_What is this?"_

"_He's weak..."  
_

"_He'll come back from this...Just you wait."_

None of them but two in this crowd of merpeople from all over Angeles Bay knew exactly what Derek looked like.

They could tell his energy though. Of his healing touch. Of the energy sparks he had been giving off since he started to feel his body's reaction to this new ability he was about to face.

Ethan sat on a rock watching the waves roll in the sunset now in the sky a bleeding contrast showing the shimmer and shine of the beings below the water's surface. Even his own tail seemed to glimmer.

His markings were burning even more now but he said nothing.

It didn't matter.

A car pulled up people got out.

He furrowed his brow. This wasn't right.

Someone in a wheelchair was helped down to the sand. Four other people stood off to the side.

Ethan squinted and dove back in swimming to the shallows as he held himself up on a rock and let himself grin a little.

He recognized the man who was now struggling to stand.

The waves would knock him over if no one helped him.

Sighing he pulled himself towards the shallows.

Derek was feeling the pull of the sea, it was almost overwhelming, this feeling of excitement, the smell of the sea air.

Lisbeth helped her son stand the man grimacing as the cold water made contact with his shoes and ankles. "You sure your ready for this?" She asked.

"This is ridiculous." Victor muttered. "The idiot is going to probably fall over hack up a lung proving he's as sick as he looks."

"Give him a minute." Angie nudged him in the ribs.

That's when they got a surprise as someone young popped their head out of the shallows. "Just help him in as far as he can stand I'll get him to the deeper water."

"And miss it? Not a chance."

Derek didn't even hear the conversation. He had tossed his glasses and labcoat onto the wheelchair as he shakily waded into the water cursing a little at the frigid temperature.

Before they got too far and before he felt like he couldn't control himself he tossed a warning over his shoulder.

"If we don't come up for awhile don't panic...Just trust us!"

He coughed harshly later as Victor rolled his eyes.

But Derek could only feel the vibrations in the water, it's natural energy felt rejuvenating.

Ethan waited until Lisbeth had pulled herself out of the shallows and under a faint blue glue that couldn't be seen above the water happened.

"Ready cuz?" He hadn't seen Derek since the last family reunion. It was hard to believe the man infront of him was his relative.

Derek gave a nod hardly believing the runt of the family was the fantailed merboy from his dream. "Ready."

Taking a deep breath they plunged under the water's surface.

Ethan swam away from Derek joining his mother and aunt as well as the other merpeople as Derek looked around him wincing a bit at the sting of the salt water.

Letting out the small bit of air in his lungs he fully inhaled the water one arm slashing a star into the 'air'.

A bright blue glow surrounded Derek as an ice cold chill went through his entire body. He closed his eyes tightly as he gritted his teeth arching his back clawing once at the water.

His markings from his dreams formed as the stars etched themselves into his hands...The swirled markings making their way up and ending at his shoulders.

Derek wrapped his arms around himself as he arched his back his transformation near complete as a white hot pain filled his legs as a bright glow envoloped him.

When it faded there was a tail attached to the man as he opened his eyes gasps and cheers from the many around him.

Letting his arms fall to the side revealed a large star etched into his chest glowing his eyes flashed blue before fading back to brown.

Derek Stiles...

Was reborn into his bloodline.

"I...Am alive."


	8. Chapter 7: Out to sea

_Derek wrapped his arms around himself as he arched his back his transformation near complete as a white hot pain filled his legs as a bright glow envoloped him._

_When it faded there was a tail attached to the man as he opened his eyes gasps and cheers from the many around him._

_Letting his arms fall to the side revealed a large star etched into his chest glowing his eyes flashed blue before fading back to brown._

_Derek Stiles..._

_Was reborn into his bloodline._

"_I...Am alive."_

_/_

Derek took in his surroundings as his transformation was completed.

It didn't hurt anymore. No pain. Moving his new appendage experimentally he moved quickly.

Taking in the faces around him some looked like the mermaids from his first dream...His first vision, others looked human with tails that varied in appearance but nothing too flashy past red. Like they were trying to hide from a world they knew wouldn't understand.

Ethan with his fantail and star markings on his limbs yet no star on his chest. His aunt Allison with an orange tail and a star on her cheek. His mother a dark blue tail that almost faded into the sea around her with similar markings to her son that stopped after the arms.

Derek knew...This was what she meant long ago by their people.

Taking in a deep breath he smiled. "Time to show them right?"

Ethan let out a laugh speeding over. "Come on let's scare the crap out of 'em!"

"No...Just proving them I'm fine..." He went to swim up but halted unsure of how he was going to show them without dragging himself back onto land.

"You just leap out of the water. Get good momentum and it'll be like a dolphin."

"R-right." He grinned sheepishly.

Ethan smirked. "Race ya!"

Going faster then he expected Derek lept out of the water diving back in moments later.

/

On the beach his coworkers were stunned. First a bright light had come from where Derek had disappeared from.

Now they saw him...What he became in a matter of minutes.

From the tail to the large star on his chest they suddenly realized there was infact more to Derek then his healing touch.

Tyler was the first to break the silence. "...I always knew he was a bit strange."

"..I can't believe it...Derek's half fish..." Angie murmured.

"...What an idiot."

_He's a freaking Mermaid...Of course.._

_/_

_That was so amazing..._ Now that he had 'transitioned' to his new form the merfolk around him were swimming around taking in Angeles Bay's beach.

Lisbeth and Allison swam to him congratulating him. "I'm so proud of you." His mother wept a little her tears unseen due to the water.

Ethan slapped him on the back laughing. "Ha finally I did something before ya! I got the tail before you did!"

"Oh shush." He grinned at the youth shoving him back a bit.

"Derek." Allison stated as her nephew turned to her. She was still awestruck at how drastically different his transformation was from any other she had experienced. Even her own had not been like that.

He smiled enjoying every second of it. He felt great. "Yeah Aunt Allison? What's up?"

"There's something you should know." She sighed. "Lisbeth?"

The man's mother sweatdropped. "Um...When you first transform you can't just go back to land expecting everything to be back to normal."

He gave a confused expression wondering just what that meant.

Ethan interrupted figuring if she had neglected to tell him in the first place about the tail then they'd be there for a century before she finished. "It means because you finally have it you have to get used to it or get sicker then you were. You have to spend a month here in the water migrating with a pod formed of the rest of us. Basically it's like taking a vacation."

Derek's jaw dropped. "A month!?"

"Yeah-"

"...Great...How am I gonna explain it!?"

"Oh easy. Just call 'em over to the pier explain that you'll drop dead if you don't get used to it threaten to kill 'em-"

"ETHAN!"

"Sorry ma!"

Derek shook his head this being a bit too much to take in at once as he swam back to think about it.

He didn't want to give up his tail yet...No this was something he wanted to explore. After dreaming of it for a long time he didn't want to give it all up just to explain to his co-workers that in order to stay safe he had to go away for a month for his body to get used to it.

After awhile he nodded to himself. He turned to his family. "...I'll go. Someone else want to explain it to them?"

Ethan raised his arm. "Not you-"

"They already think you and auntie are insane let's face it Derek might be easier if they see someone who went through it most recently."

He sighed the boy had a point there. "Alright...Go but I'm coming with but won't get out. I'll at least say goodbye."

With that they swam until they reached the near shallows Derek holding onto a rock to keep in place.

Ethan pulled himself onto shore ignoring the surprised looks as he did as he always did.

Rolled himself in the sand as his tail changed back into his legs. Standing shakily he leaned on Derek's old wheelchair. "Scuse me...Ethan Martino's the name...I'm Derek's cousin."

"What was that?"

"Well that...Was the family Heritage. Thing is Derek would explain it himself but because he's getting used to his new limb...He has to spend a month in the sea or more to let his body regulate to it. The tail is really new to him and if he gives it up right away...He'll just get sicker." The boy tried explaining.

There was collective sighs. Considering how sick Derek was...And how they had no idea what the heck they had gotten themselves into they nodded.

"Derek!" Angie called. "You have a lot of explaining to do!"

"Take care of yourself."

"Don't get eaten by a shark ya moron!"

"Be safe!" Tyler called. "Dude you owe me an explanation."

Derek from where he was waved not sure how far his voice would travel as he dipped back into the water.

Ethan nodded before wading in before diving in.

"It's going to be a long month..." Tyler sighed in worry hoping Derek was strong enough to handle all of this.

_We don't even get why the hell of all things he had to be a MERMAID of all of them?_

/

Derek and the others swam out to sea after that.

There was no packing anything. Not even going back for his glasses.

He had to learn to handle himself and whatever abilities he may have received.

He was confused, amazed, felt generally excited.

Derek soon realized that an energy boost seemed to come with the territory.

Little did they know someone else knew about the mermaids.

But they weren't going to leave well enough alone.


	9. Chapter 8: A new Healing Touch attitude

It had been a few days at sea but already things seemed to be in place.

The sea was even more beautiful then he had dreamed of.

Derek couldn't help but marvel at it. "And think about it you get to spend a month in this place." Ethan had grinned flicking his tail out of habit.

It was a bit irritating having someone younger then him know what seemed to be the ins and outs of everything around them. "Come on just wait until you see the Twilight Layer!" The boy had urged trying to drag the surgeon turned merman into a chasm of blackness.

Even with their glowing marks he would not go down there without a fight. "Never."

"You don't go down you don't eat." Ethan smirked crossing his arms raising an eyebrow. "We hunt in the Twilight layer duh."

_This kid is going to get on my nerves really fast...But it is nice to have someone at least show me the ropes...Though I already know most of it..._Derek internally sighed as he followed him into the darkness.

It took awhile for his sight to adjust. He just kept following the flash of red.

When it did he was amazed. "Beautiful isn't it?" The boy grinned pointing out a few sea creatures that glittered with bio-luminescence.

"Yeah.." He whispered mesmerized...

Until he realized his cousin had already swam away.

"H-hey!" He hurried after. "Where do you get all of this energy from!?"

"You'll see why when you practically rip half your stuff off to get back in." Ethan grinned teasing him a little.

Derek was not amused. "Ethan-"

Suddenly the boy stopped freezing. Derek swam closer to the boy noting he was gritting his teeth and had his hands in fists close to drawing blood from how tightly he was gripping them. "Ethan...What's wrong?" He touched his shoulder as Ethan flinched away.

"Look." He just murmured pointing. Derek hesitated before turning...And feeling his blood run cold.

Before the two was a giant squid. And it was coming at them.

"Don't move..." Ethan hissed. "Don't even breathe!"

"W-what-"

"It'll eat us." He gulped shaking visibly his tail only flicking a little to keep him afloat.

Derek watched the monster as it headed towards the two. "We can out swim it."

But Ethan wasn't hearing anything. He was, ashamed to admit it but he was terrified of octopus, giant squids. It had been a matter of hunger with the smaller variety and didn't scare him but the giant version?

He had nightmares about being killed by one...And he felt like he was in a living nightmare.

Derek growled grabbing the younger male's arm and swimming tugging Ethan along as the first tentacle shot out snagging Ethan by the tail.

His scream pierced the silence. "NO!" Ethan and Derek struggled to pull him free but the creature wasn't letting go of him so easily.

Derek looked around for something, anything to use as a weapon, he would be damned if he would let Ethan die like this.

"DEREK!"

He spotted something in the sand as he reached for it picking it up.

"HELP ME! PLEASE!" He was struggling still. Derek didn't wait for another yell as he slashed at the appendage with the item. Something he had recognized.

A stingray barb stuck into an old whale bone. A makeshift weapon of his kind. Blood coated the water as both grimaced at the metallic smell that followed. The sound that followed as the squid retreated as sickening.

Still shocked Ethan tried moving his tail but hissed in pain. "Let's get you out of here. Hold onto me." Derek said putting an arm around the boy's waist as he pulled him up.

The darkness gave way to light as he helped Ethan lay across the sand as he looked him over. "This is bad..." He sighed finding a distinct break near the monofin. It couldn't even snap shut as it usually did.

Ethan was biting his wrist trying not to cry out. He was afraid of attracting another predator. "It's broken Ethan. It'd be a mistake to let you keep using it like this. You need to get onto land and dry off and change back-" Derek tried to tell him.

But he wasn't having any of it. "No! It'll just mean I have breaks in both legs then and then I'll be in the hospital!"

"It's better then being squid bait-"

"DON'T EVEN GO THERE!"

Derek gave him a glare. "I'm a doctor for god's sake Ethan."

"...Do something that'll help it heal down here. I don't want to go back up yet."

"Ethan what the hell can I do down here without any equipment? I don't even think a splint will help this. It's right near your fin." Derek tried explaining but the argument halted when their eyes fell on their markings.

"You know there hasn't been one with a star on their chest in a long time..."

_The healing touch...Could I still use it in this form?_

Derek sighed to himself. "Ethan you are an idiot to think I'm going to do anything else then drag you onto shore-"

"Says the man who is older then me a brilliant surgeon, the pride of the family and yet here you are JUST getting the tail."

The surgeon crossed his arms. "I'm older then you therefor I am technically the boss of you. That means Ethan that listening to me is NOT off the menu."

"...Please Derek..Please." He pleaded eyes showing just how much pain he was in. His tail which ran up most of his body could feel exactly where the break was...And it felt like someone had stabbed him.

He sighed looking at his hand. "...I can try something...But if it doesn't work your mother is dragging you onto shore and taking you to the ER got it?" He said after a moment of thinking.

"Yes sure whatever just do it man." Ethan waved him off.

Derek sighed shaking his head. Stubborn little runt... He thought focusing calling into his mind the image of the healing touch star. Drawing in the water he formed the star...Only differently.

From his fingertip came a light that solidified as each point was created. By the time he was done there was a three dimensional star in his hand.

He had a bad feeling he knew what to do with it. "..This is going to hurt.." Holding it over where the injury was Derek started pushing the star as it faded into the boy's tail bit by bit.

"AUGH! STAB IT MORE WHY DON'T YOU!?'

"Stay still!" Derek pushed the last point in as Ethan suddenly grew still. The man hadn't noticed but his marks were glowing brighter the entire time this was happening. When it was over they faded back to the glow they had taken on since his transition.

Ethan noticed as Derek moved back he looked tired his eyes had actually turned a cyan blue during it and faded back to brown. "D-Derek..Thank you." And it felt better. He swim in a circle experimentally. It felt more then better it felt like nothing had ever happened. "You okay?"

He nodded and swam past him. "Come on let's go back to where the others are. I'm exhausted."

"Too much adventure for the both of us." Ethan said thinking he had agreed.

But silently both knew what Derek had just done wasn't his normal healing touch at all.

/

On a boat above the waters a crew was busy.

Above deck a net, a cart with restraints long enough to hold a full grown man. Nets, harpoons.

They were after someone keeping an eye out.

Below deck what looked like an operating room. A tank of salt water with a chain at the bottom.

It wasn't going to be to help anybody.

In the captains room sat a woman running her finger tip along the rim of a glass of red wine. Her head bald and scarred with small tufts of hair. Blazing jade green eyes glared into the ruby depths of the wine.

Years ago she was quite beautiful but a fatal disease had taken all of it away in her eyes. Cancer that had moved onto all of her organs. Not even Caduceus could help her. She sneered looking at her computer screen rereading the myth.

She was dying but refused to accept it. An old myth about a woman who had consumed mermaid flesh had inspired her in a truly wicked way.

She wanted to live forever...And she would do whatever it took to gain that goal.

Hiring hunters and fisherman, a doctor who had lost his license. The cast was complete except for one thing.

She had pictures taken by her hunters over the last few months of mermaids rumored to be in Angeles Bay.

She looked at a picture of a pretty blonde girl being kissed by a boy his long red tail hanging out of the water his arms and hands with red markings. He was her ideal target at first plotting to take his life to preserve her own...

Then she received the footage. Clicking out of her window she pulled up the image taken by a camera.

Of Derek's first leap above water his markings were truly glowing that day. The noticable star on his chest had sealed his fate.

As well of that of Angie.

The camera's had missed Tyler, Victor and Sidney. Angie was in perfect view the nurse standing in the shallow water up to her ankles. She knew bait when she saw it.

The woman, Maya Sasaki chuckled to herself pausing tracing the star on Derek's chest on the glass of the screen. "Soon my pretty little one...Soon you will be all mine...And more.."

A cold cruel laugh filled the cabin as she rejoiced in her plot. The man's body would be slaughtered and she would drink his blood and feast upon his flesh.

The wicked woman sat back and waited. As soon as her 'Star boy' was caught...She would have her life back.

But of course...The bait needed to be caught.

_And why not get two for the price of one?_

/

"One night and one more time thanks for the memories..." Ethan was swimming around enjoying himself as Derek laid on a rock watching his younger cousin.

The older male shook his head. "That song wasn't good the first one hundred times Ethan-"

"Too bad I love this song!"

Derek sighed realizing that Ethan really was like a hyperactive child in this form.

"Oof!" Especially when he got excited. This was proven when he was 'tackled' by the red tailed merboy.

"ETHAN! Why are you so freaking hyperactive!?"

"Becaaauuuse your the first healer in like generations! This is like dude a freaking awesome thing!" He gushed grinning.

Derek sweatdropped. "You mean my healing touch? I don't even know how I was able to use it like that."

Ethan shook his head still sitting on his cousin's back. "It doesn't matter. It means that your special. That you have a lot more to offer then our ancestors ever did."

Now he was getting worried. "Your talking like I'm going to save the world Ethan." He said dryly shaking his head as his hair floated out of his face.

The boy just grinned more as he laughed. "Dude this means your worth more to the entire pod!"

"You forget I don't know what that means yet Ethan. I've only been at this for less then a week." He responded.

He really didn't understand most of what Ethan was going on about. Unlike Derek, Ethan was raised knowing everything about their family's heritage. Derek was in the dark about it for years.

He sighed as he watched his mother and aunt frolic like children in the distance their tails being visible. "...How come they got to keep their clothes anyways?"

"Derek...It's called flaunting what you got."

"You worry me sometimes."

"I'm your younger cousin kind of comes in the job description."

Derek just shoved the boy off of his back as he tumbled off the rock with a yelp. "You okay?"

"Peachy." He landed in a kelp bed startling several fish away in the process.

Derek sighed thinking of home and wondering just how Caduceus was faring without him. He missed walking on land and Angie especially.

"Angie..." He murmured without thinking...Looking up into a set of grey eyes. He let out a yell as he propelled backwards putting a hand on his chest over his mark. "For the love of god stop doing that!" He yelled as Ethan swam up to him laughing.

"Who's Angie?"

Derek blushed bright red and turned away. "Um well you remembere on the beach a fews ago...?" He grinned sheepishly. If he had his glasses he would've adjusted or started cleaning them out of habit.

Ethan was going to press further...But things took a turn for the worse.

A loud sound went through the water as everyone around them cried out. Some gripping their heads most trying to block out the sound. Derek and Ethan amongst them gripping their heads and covering their ears respectively. "WHAT IS THAT!?" Lisbeth yelled over it.

"I-it's them!"

"Run away!"

Looking around them there was an ominous shadow.

A ship with a net. Mermaids were swimming in every direction the pod separating. "ETHAN!"

"DEREK!"

The males didn't have time to react when they were snatched up by the net.

An electrical current shot through them as their worlds went black.

/

When Derek awoke he was lying on concrete.

He looked around him. Sectioned off bars above him. He was still in his merman form as he pushed himself up.

He was in a tank. There was glass on one side as well as little holes that went through another tank but he couldn't see into it from where he laid.

What he could see was a posh office. He went forward pressing himself against the glass looking around for a possible escape.

He found none. Not in this form and what he found out that it could take hours to revert back.

"Shit." He swore under his breath. Swimming back he went to try the bars.

Letting out a surprised gasp when he found himself getting pulled back down. Looking at his fin he noticed a chain clamped firmly around where his fin started.

"...This is not going to be pretty." He facepalmed. Derek examined his surroundings. The chain only kept him from reaching the bars.

Not from going around the tank. He did so, if one were to walk in he would be swimming by glaring at them.

He noticed the door opened as a woman strolled in. He swam up to the glass as she seemed to beam at him.

But it sent a chill through his spine. "Who are you?"

"Me?" She laughed a cold cruel laugh.

"I...Little Star Boy...Am going to eat you."


	10. Chapter 9: Heritage

_Ngh...Where am I?_ The first sound that registered was a hum...Like that of a filter.

Ethan awoke with a start hearing a thud a hard thud like a hand against a wall.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY EAT ME!?"

That voice he knew was Derek's. He heard someone talking.

Forcing himself up he was still paralyzed from the shock. He wound up having to drag himself his tail hanging limp until he managed to look out the glass.

He was in another tank parallel to Derek's. He could see a bit of his relative and the woman who was keeping them hostage.

"I mean...Your life will be given..." She snickered. "To save mine...And perhaps a heavy sum to give immortality to others." Ethan couldn't help but feel afraid.

Derek snarled throwing himself against the glass. "You can't do this! We're alive!"

"Not for long..." She left as the males settled into an eerie silence.

Derek leaned against the wall of his tank drawing his tail up to his chest in thought. There had to be a way out of this.  
This psychotic woman was planning on butchering him and Ethan...To live forever.

What could have possibly driven her to that? "No...It doesn't matter because we'll get out of this." He reasoned.

"Derek..." He snapped his attention to what he could see of Ethan. The boy was still on the floor of his containment unit barely able to move his tail. He wasn't chained to the ground like Derek was.

Wait...He's so much younger and he's somewhat smaller than I am...The shock...It must've paralyzed him... "Ethan I promise I'll get us out of this."

"Ar-are we really going to die?" Ethan's face showed fear as he pulled himself up against the glass.

Derek narrowed his eyes. "No.."

He made a vow.

No one was going to die except for Sasaki.

/

_She was floating in a dark realm._

She couldn't see much or hear much. But she could feel it all. She could feel the anguish, the pain.

It was unbearable.

Angie Thompson awoke with a yell as she shot her head up. Only to find the same area of Maya Sasaki's ship she had been trapped on for days now. Her neck ached from having to sleep with her head slumped forward.

She couldn't believe how this had happened. One day she was adjusting to the thought that Derek was more then human and then the next she woke up on this ship.

Her clothes were torn, various cuts and bruises covered her body. She had been interrogated about what she knew about Derek...She refused to give an answer and had faced the consequences.

Across from her chained to the wall as she was, was another blonde this girl being much younger then the nurse.

She had also been asked questions and she refused to answer even when a photo of her had been shown kissing a merboy. She wasn't ratting Ethan out. Not even if it killed her.

The girl, Marina had been involved with Ethan. She wasn't going to send him up the river.

Angie sighed to herself the younger girl had gotten it a lot worse. "Losing consciousness several times...Likely concussion..."

And she couldn't do anything to help. She only hoped, prayed that this psycho didn't find Derek. That she didn't kill him.

Though...Ever since then it's felt strange... Even with her battered body Angie could still tell something wasn't right.

Especially when the sounds from right next door resembled that of someone struggling.

Little did she know Derek was trying to escape his bonds.

And little that Derek and Ethan knew...Were that things were going to become much...MUCH worse.

/  
_How could I have let this happen? WHY DID I LET THIS HAPPEN!? _Lisbeth and Allison were swimming after the ship.

They couldn't seem to keep up.

That's when they started calling.

When they finally caught up with what took the surgeon and the teenager there was close to dozens even hundreds of merfolk and other creatures alike.

Unbeknownst to Sasaki...There was one thing they all recognized about Derek.

That he was different even from them.

On the ship Derek was trying to contemplate an escape.

He was lightly dozing trying to conserve energy. That's when he noticed it.

He was laying on his back and noticed it as he watched the water move above. It wasn't in the manner that water being moved by a filter would.

It was moving in a perfect circle. He narrowed his eyes wondering just what it was.

His marks felt warmer but it was a gentle warmth that filled his every being with wonder.

"Ethan.."

"Yeah?"

"...Tell me...Do Healers have any special abilities?"

The boy sighed. "Yes...They are said to be directly connected to the sea...A skilled healer is legendary...For he was able to create whirlpools only around his body to deflect predators...To be able to create bursts of light in the twilight layer...And to of course heal...The healers always are different...They have special markings...Even more special then the general ones...Sometimes it's not obvious until something else is revealed." He explained his voice soft and quiet as he laid on his stomach, arms folded under his chin moving his tail lazily as he slowly got movement back.

Derek was silent for awhile. "How do you know this?"

"...Anyone who was raised knowing about their Heritage would Derek. It's been passed down since that legendary healer died it seems.."

"Died?"

"...He killed himself to save others legend says."

_He...Sacrificed himself?_ Derek looked at his own markings then up at the water which had stopped moving when he became distracted.

He remembered that dream. He had seen someone more primitive then the merfolk he saw when he transformed, sacrifice themselves to an ancient predator so others may live.

But he lacked marks. He lacked even the swirls...And yet Derek knew...

That had been him. His...Former self.

He couldn't explain it. He didn't know how to fathom it.

Sighing deeply as bubbles escaped his mouth he rolled over looking at his cousin.

Ethan had lost consciousness again.

"I wonder...If it's only me who can use a version of it..."

He looked up as Maya entered the room once more staring at Ethan with a hungry look on her face. "Hmm perhaps I should have him for supper...And you for dessert."

Derek snarled as he lunged at the glass. "You even think of touching him I swear to god...!"

She just laughed in his face brandishing a dagger this time up close.

Even though she couldn't touch him yet through the glass it sent chills down his spine. It already had blood on it.

"Oh this makes you uncomfortable?" She stepped close as he swam back a bit.

He couldn't help but feel disgusted and angered as she licked it right off. "That blond girl sure screamed when it pierced her...Maybe you know her...After all she saw your grand reveal.."

It hit him and left him feeling cold in the worst way possible as it hit him brown eyes widening in shock and horror.

The cruel woman sneered as activity started from above the tanks. "Enjoy what's left of your life...I'll enjoy ending your little girlfriend's."

_Angie...Please no..._

"But of course...There's so many blonds...Perhaps I'll scalp them both.."

"Both?"

She only eyed Ethan out of the corner of her eyes. "Well...I needed two bargaining chips."

That was the last thing Derek heard from her before he was pulled up with a net that was deployed. He screamed and thrashed in it gasping for breath when he was removed from the water. The air he once breathed felt chilling and foreign to his altered body as he shuddered and rasped.

He was hanging upside down at that the rope digging into his face. His marks letting out the brightest glow he's ever recalled them as he felt his temper boil over.

He let out an inhumane shriek that caused the workers trying to shove him into a transport container on top of Ethan to cover their ears.

Grabbing a hold of the tank partially freed from the net he moved knocking one of them into the water.

The other worker was backing up as Derek snarled yelling at him in the strangest form.

He did not speak...He was letting out clicks, squeals and hisses.

But what was even more eerie was his eyes were glowing completely void of any humanity left in them.

Derek wouldn't realize what he had done until he had changed back into his human form stumbling as he ran with the containment unit as fast as he could.

He had knocked one unconscious and the other?

Trapped to the sides of the tank with his head just barely able to reach out of the water...

Cerulean stars imbedding him to the wall by his wrists and legs.

The surgeon turned merman had snapped.

The younger his body curled up in a ball of red and tousled brown hair was close to snapping himself.

In an entirely different way.

_He couldn't explain what was happening._

All he could hear was the sound of his people. The anger in their voices.

He was alternating between running one minute as a human and the next his legs flashed pale red before fading into his tail as he swam forward with practiced speed.

The sea was dark, darker then he could have ever remembered it. He dove down deep his markings the only light.

Until it suddenly illuminated showing him the skeleton of a whale...

And what seemed to be an entire pod of mermaids dead their bodies strewn all over. Young and old.

Their mouths opened in eternal horror bones long picked clean by the bottom feeders he often had hunted for a quick meal.

That's when he heard a frantic voice.

He saw her looked into her fearful blue eyes as she struggled trapped in the eyewell of the skull of the once majestic giant.

Only now it seemed to mock him. "ETHAN!" Her blond hair floated around her as she reached for him.

Bearing markings exactly like his only in a shimmering purple.

He had long since wanted to make the final move in their relationship. He loved this girl...Marina Parker and had wanted to exchange blood with her.

But not like this. He swam towards her grabbing onto her hand as he pulled.

He smelled blood.

He could sea the beast approaching from behind.

Gutteral screams of the deceased joined the two teenagers as their bodies were tumbled and tossed in the surf as suddenly as the strange events happened he could see it.

Derek losing his temper completely in a flash of white water. In another the ship being rocked by a wicked storm that was unnatural in and of itself.

Marina called out his name as her image faded her large blue eyes showing fear as he tried to hold onto her.

"NO!"

Ethan heard this in the real world as he awoke.

Slowly pushing himself up Ethan gasped at the sight before him.

Derek was shaking visibly startled.

They had found Sasaki's slaughter room.

Angie and Marina on and off the table injured severely.

The psychotic woman standing off to the side licking blood off of a knife.

Ethan couldn't explain the rage he felt as he snapped. "YOU!"

Derek ran to them and searched for a pulse not caring if Sasaki cut him down or attempted to as he did it. He was thoroughly angered.

The two were still alive but very weak. _But...This isn't just bloodloss at work here..._

"They were so much fun to play with...You should've heard them scream and cry." She was messing with their heads now.

_Angie.._ He lifted her up into his arms. She didn't even stir. "...Why do you want to kill us so badly? Would it really be so horrible to try real medicine one last time?"

She smirked. "I gave real medicine a chance and it decided to pronounce me as terminal...So devouring you two will be a pleasure.."

Derek was eerily silent.

Ethan himself felt rage. He was silent as well but was thinking of all the ways he would love to cut that woman into pieces.

Gently placing Angie on the floor Derek stepped back. "...I can't take it anymore.." He growled energy crackling in the air.

His hair floated up a little as he rubbed his hands together his markings appearing.

He took several steps and before she realized it he had knocked her to the floor.

Derek looked into her eyes and Maya felt her blood freeze as she realized just who she had tried to kill.

His eyes were a cold icy blue devoid of any signs of humanity.

_It would only take a few shocks... _

"DEREK WAIT!" Ethan tried to stop him.

He was about to shock her with pure energy when he heard a moan of pain.

"Angie?" Snapping his head over to her he saw she was waking.

"Forget her!" Ethan had pulled himself out of the container and over to Marina trying to wake her up. "C'mon Marine...Don't die on me now..."

"Ang!" Derek stood and ran over to her realizing he had snapped...Lifting her into his arms he shook her a little as her eyes barely opened. "Angie? Angie can you hear me?"

Angie was eerily silent pale as a sheet. "D-Derek?" She finally asked after a moment.

"It's me Ang'..It's me.." He murmured. She closed her eyes. "No Ang, stay with me!"

"Derek...I don't think they'll last long..." Ethan was still trying to wake Marina tears running down his face. He was scared for the girl he loved.

"No! I won't let them die!" He growled trying to wake her once more.

Ethan looked around for anything to use. Sasaki realizing that if the two were as powerful as they looked it could be deadly for her.

He spotted it...A couple of knives on the ground. "Derek...Remember about blood exchanges?"

Derek did recall it as he looked in the direction and shuddered realizing that there may not be a choice. "Yes...To create a bond stronger then marriage you and your lover cut themselves and press the wounds together..Then when it's done if that person is a human they..." He cut himself off as he realized what his cousin was suggesting.

He couldn't do that! Not to Angie!

"...I was gonna ask her to exchange blood with me after highschool...I guess fate had other plans." Ethan himself had other thoughts in mind.

Angie was getting worse by the minute. Derek sighed realizing there wasn't a choice.

_I'm a healer..I can save her...Even if it means changing her...I love her too much to lose her to some creep like this... _Derek set her down gently and retrieved the knives.

"Oh your going to kill them yourselves?" Sasaki was mocking them.

That's when it happened.

Both males snapped their heads to her.

Derek drew a single star in the air as the three dimensional star appeared once more.

Throwing it he pinned her by the shirt to the wall knocking her knife out of her hand. "If you keep talking I'll slice your throat.." He threatened. Normally he wouldn't dare but she had gone too far. Kill him, fine try to kill someone he loved? Goodbye.

Kneeling to Angie he felt horrible for what he was about to do.

Taking her hand in his he sliced her palm as she visibly flinched as he sliced his own gripping her hand tightly.

A surge of energy flowed through his body as his markings re-etched themselves into his hand...

Before etching themselves onto her own body as bright green markings swirled up her arm stars etching themselves onto the backs of her hands.

The noticable thing he gasped a little over was whilst he had a star on his chest...

Angie had one etched into her forehead. The marks faded as her eyes soon opened fully flashing a dark jade. "Derek?" She was really awake this time as she sat up carefully. He tried to caution her but she wasn't having any of it. She placed both hands on his cheeks looking into his eyes. "It's you...It's really you!"

"Ang..." Derek pulled her close. "I'm so glad to see you awake...Don't scare me like that again."

She blushed a bit but gave him a confused look. "Derek...Wh-what's that noise?"

They both heard it...The sounds of dozens maybe even hundreds...

They sense the power of course...

Ethan seeing Angie and Derek's exchange a success swallowed hard.

Adjusting Marina in his arm he instead cut her lip just a little as it bled a bit. He did the same to his own.

The size or amount didn't matter. He kissed her deeply praying it would work.

The first thing he noticed was her eyes opening in surprise. She wasn't looking at him though.

She was looking at her limbs that now bore markings similar to his briefly.

The bonds had been made solid.

Nothing could break them apart now.

Derek stood Angie staying close to him.

The ship was rocking as things shifted inside. Ethan held Marina close to him growling a little realizing he had shifted back to normal.

"I'd say it's time to leave..."

When they turned to where Sasaki was a chill went through them.

The woman was gone leaving behind a tattered piece of cloth.

"...We better hurry." Derek in the lead pulling Angie along lead the way to where it seemed to be easy to escape.

"Ethan what the hell is going on?!"

"Shut it Marine I'll tell ya when we're out of this psycho's ship!" He yelled back at her as a door opened revealing the deck.

And the open ocean.

"...We're gonna have to jump."

Angie gave Derek a look that clearly read "Are you nuts!?" She looked over the side realizing why it was shaking.

The waves were picking up dangerously. There was also something under the surface.

Ethan was already climbing onto the edge. "C'mon we don't wanna be merman fin soup!"

Marina who knew Ethan from the start sighed deciding to go along with it.

Angie gulped as Derek took her hand. She squeezed it as he gave her a reassuring look. "C'mon Ang'...It'll be fine."

Guards were coming as they hurried onto the edge of the deck.

Taking a deep breath they all jumped off being enveloped by the water.

Angie felt her eyes sting as she opened them realizing she was still grabbing onto Derek.

She almost gasped at his form. She didn't realize how powerful he looked until he was up close to her.

"Angie..." He spoke softly. "...Breathe."

She shook her head trying to hold her breath as she noticed several others around her.

And realized just what was attacking the ship.

Whales.

_They can summon whales...Now I've seen everything..._ Her lungs burned for oxygen as Derek gave her a serious look. "Angie! There's no choice just do it!"

She wound up giving in giving him a glare as she sucked in a breath of water. She trusted he knew what he was talking about.

No...She trusted him even before this began.

Angie felt a cold chill go through her as she closed her eyes wrapping her arms around herself.

Bright green swirled markings traveled up her arms as stars etched themselves into her hands.

Moving fast she tossed her head back as a star appeared on her forehead.

A white hot pain filled her legs as a warm light covered them as she tried moving them when it faded...

A long jade green tail was attached to her.

The exchanging blood with Derek did more then save her life.

More then made their bond stronger and in a way for Derek showing how much he loved her.

It changed the two human girls into what their significant others were.

Angie Thompson opened her eyes finding Derek smiling warmly at her as the other merfolk she noticed applauded.

She looked down at herself shocked. "I'm a...a..."

Derek chuckled softly. "A mermaid Ang..."

_I'm a mermaid...Oh my gosh..._

"Welcome to the Heritage..."


	11. Chapter 10: Love is in the sea air

The night following the blood exchange did not go as...Expected.

Angie was curled up where Derek was the two wrapped in each others arms. Angie wasn't used to the chill the sea had and Derek was trying to warm her up. "Derek I don't know if I can do this...I can't even swim that well..."

"You'll get better at it. You think it's been easy for me?" She looked up at his face taking in his features.

He looked tired as it was given what he had went through at the hands of Sasaki...There was also something else.

She curled up more against him tucking her new tail as close to her chest as she could. "Your going to hurt yourself trying that.." He cautioned her curling his body around her's. Taking one of her hands in his he whispered in her ear. "I wouldn't have done this to you if I didn't know it would keep you alive and safe...You would've died Angie..."

"I'm not angry Derek...This is just surprising..." She whispered back noticing that they were illuminating each other by their markings. She felt safe in his arms. She always did.

He smiled a little taking her hand in his. "Uncurl your tail...It'll be stiff if you sleep like that..."

She did so and blushed furiously when he wrapped his tail around her's but relaxed in his arms.

"This better?" Derek asked as Angie nuzzled his chest a little. She nodded mumbling tiredly. "Then rest...I'll guard you."

Closing her eyes Angie fell asleep feeling safe.

_Oh how little she actually knows about how this whole blood exchange works.._ Derek looked up towards the surface as he sighed. _How do I explain I pretty much just made her my bride forever?_

No...It was for the best...And she's here in my arms..If she was disgusted with what I did she wouldn't even be near me right now...

I love her so much...I just want the best for her...

But...Was it the right thing to do?

She'll adjust..I'll teach her...

/

"That's it your doing great..Now try this." Ethan turned on a dime arching his entire body forward monofin snapping shut as he spun.

Marina had been having difficulty adjusting to her tail. She was more so unused to it actually being apart of her. She used to swim with him all the time copying how he did it so the movement wasn't difficult. It was how her fin would 'lock up' and leave her struggling.

Marina hesitated before throwing herself forward reaching her arms out copying the movement...

Snapping her fin shut before continuing the movement grabbing onto Ethan's hands as he helped her roll over completely.

She snapped her fin open again laughing at how she finally did something right in her eyes.

Ethan stared at her as she smiled at him.

He couldn't help but awe at her. She knew his secret for a long time and he had wanted to exchange blood with her..

But it was frowned upon to make such a bond that lasted until either one of them died at their age.

They were just teenagers, kids in the adults eyes.

But he had to do it. He couldn't let her slip away.

He was happy he did it though. Marina..He had never seen her so happy. She was once restricted by the need for air...Now she didn't need it. She had the oxygen of the water around her. She didn't need to worry about how far out to sea she could go.

He was happy for her...He could be together with her. Taking her hand Ethan grinned leading her up as he spun and twirled for her.

Marina blushed before joining him.

The sea was their stage as they waltzed around each other twisting and turning looking to each other.

Ethan swam up, Marina hurried to meet him half way.

He let out a few soft quiet clicks.

_I love you._ They said as he looked into her eyes. She blushed and threw her arms around him as he twirled her their trails wrapping around each other.

Her hair floated around them as he laid his head atop hers. "Ethan...?" She asked softly.

"I thought you were gonna die..." His voice shook. The tears he let out mixed with the water as he let out the tension that the whole day had brought.

She moved away from him a little and took his face in her hands. "But I didn't." She told him kissing him deeply.

Ethan relaxed into it as he kissed her back.

After a moment the two parted touching their foreheads to one another marks glowing as they blushed furiously. "I love you so much Marina..." His voice was still shaky as he took her hand in his.

Swimming back a little he went downwards as if he was going on one knee. "..You know what exchanging blood meant besides giving you a tail right?" He asked.

Marina gave a nod. He had told her as much as he could about his heritage. She knew it and accepted it.

"Well...Then will you..." He stammered.

"Marina..."

"Yes Ethan?"

He sighed and looked into her eyes. "...Will you marry me?"

/

The next morning things seemed to be better.

Angie and Derek were still asleep nested amongst the kelp and seaweed holding each other close.

Lisbeth and Allison floated above them and smirked. "I told you she was pretty."

"Yeah but my boy's gonna make better looking babies." Their voices were hushed as they swam up to give the pair more time to rest...

Passing Ethan and Marina who were asleep back to back tails also curled around each others.

"Ooooh I smell a wedding!"

Whilst Allison smiled Lisbeth seemed...Distant. The older woman placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "What's wrong hon'?"

"...This is all my fault.." She whispered. "If I had made Alexander go to the sea...He wouldn't have died..If I had told Derek about his Heritage when he was a teenager maybe he wouldn't-"

"Lisbeth!" Allison scolded. "It's not your fault he downright refused and it's not your fault Derek was a late bloomer. Ethan was the same way and his dad STILL refuses to exchange blood! Now..." She hugged her sister. "Look at your boy...You raised one of the best surgeons of our time...You raised a Healer...He's unique..And he's only going to get stronger now that he's exchanged blood."

She nodded. That was true...Derek would still need to return to the sea often and bring Angie with.

"And their children...Will likely have mermaid DNA too..."

"Children..." Allison couldn't help but sigh as if she was dreaming. "I can't wait to be a grandma...Well until after Ethan and Marina turn eighteen."

Lisbeth shook her head. She knew her sister well. There would be wedding plans, trying to make her son happy and of course given the bond he and his girlfriend now had it was pretty much only to make it official to the human world.

"You know I'll be a grandma first. And you'll wait Derek's babies will be beautiful!"

"Ethan's will be faster." She teased.

They swam off to find food for the day..Still arguing.

An old argument yes but one that would likely still go on until either one became a grandparent.

Then they saw it...Dolphins trying to get a school of sardines into a 'bait ball'.

Lisbeth narrowed her eyes. "Get everyone! Now! Time to see who sinks or swims!" She yelled keeping watch as her sister went to retrieve the rest of the pod.

Soon everyone was ready.

This was a tradition. Marina and Angie floated with several others beneath the bait ball forming.

"One..."

Derek and Ethan tensed up.

"Two..."

Others got into position as other predators started approaching. Time was crucial.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW!"

Like a gunshot had been fired all the mermaids lept into the frey. Several helped the dolphins corral the sardines into the bait ball as others Derek and Ethan included took turns diving through it. Makeshift nets weighed down with stones in their hands.

The fish were swept up as they turned tying them off diving back in letting the previous bags drop.

The mermaids underneath snatched them and added them to a pile.

Derek was actually enjoying this. He was moving fast and liked how powerful he felt. He had to dodge a few others coming to dine on the school before them.

A shark came dangerously close as a dolphin rammed into it moving it away. Derek smiled his thanks patting it on the head before going back to work.

Before long the pod retreated to the shallows.

Derek settled on a rock the dolphin from before at his side using his lap for a pillow of sorts.

He tried eating his share only to get a squeak and pleading looks from the fellow mammal. "I'm sorry-"

"Derek they helped us gather it. We share in the spoils. So share."

It was humiliating to be scolded at his age in front of the woman he loved. He gave the dolphin the fish as it swam away.

Hearing snickering behind him he took a glance and glared picking up a rock and throwing it in his cousin's direction.

Ethan dodged and teased him.

"Hey be nice." Marina gave him a look.

_That'll teach him..._ Derek went back to his meal.

It had been fun though he mused smiling looking back on it. Darting fast hearing his heart pound in his eardrums coordinating almost on instinct with the others.

He looked forward to the next time that could happen.

Angie swam over to him and settled next to him. She leaned her head on his shoulder.

"...You want my last fish." He stated knowing the look in her eyes.

"I gave most of mine to the dolphins.." She grinned sheepishly. "Can I?"

"...You don't need to ask." He smiled handing it to her. "You need the energy."

She blushed a little leaning in closer.

Derek leaned his head close to her's. He took in the features of her face.

Angie looked into his eyes as she closed her's leaning in close.

Before they knew it they were kissing. They pulled back quickly a few bubbles flying out of their mouths out of surprise before smiling and kissing once more.

Applauds sounding and cheering snapped them out of it.

Derek hung his head bangs floating in front of his eyes to hide them.

Angie blushed covering her face with her's.

"They got us." He muttered shaking his head.

"Oh well." Angie couldn't help but laugh a little.

Here she was a mermaid now...And in love with her co-worker who changed her into this form to save her.

She never resented him for it though. She loved him...That was all that matters.

"Oh by the way everyone..." Ethan cleared his throat as he and Marina swam to the center of the area. "We got an announcement.."

Marina was blushing furiously trying to talk him out of it.

"Well? Out with it!" Someone yelled.

Ethan smirked. "We're getting married...When we're eighteen of course but blood exchange...Yeah."

His mother cheered as Lisbeth muttered.

An old bet long since won. Ethan had gotten engaged first.

Derek shook his head. _Of course...Now how to explain to Angie that's basically how we'll end up? ...I'll tell her tonight..._

"Congratulations Ethan..Marina.."

The two teens smiled giving a nod of thanks.

Later that night Derek showed Angie a spot he found that made it easier to think.

Though it was...Squishy. "Why a bed of sea sponges?" She asked.

"Less dangerous then the Twilight Layer." He stated before sighing. "Ang...You know the whole blood exchange means that...We're more then just a Healer and a nurse right?"

"...I believe so..." She murmured. She herself was unsure about most of the things going on in this 'culture'.

"Well..." He sighed laying back as she joined him. "When a merman exchanges blood with a mermaid or a partner in general...It means more then just healing them during a needed time...It means more then a bond..." He sighed shakily.

"Angie..." Derek stuttered looking away. "I-it means we're mates..." His face had a faint blush that she couldn't see in the darkness as he turned over but his marks glowing told her how embarrassed he felt right now.

She herself blushed a little but put a hand on his arm as he looked to her. "Derek...You know how happy I am to actually hear that?"

He blinked. "...You are? I thought you'd be mad..."

"Why would I?" She laughed. "I'm here with you...I've always loved you...You risked your life to save mine..." Angie smiled. Derek sat up and touched his forehead to her's as she smiled closing her eyes.

"Then Angie...Will you be mine? F-forever?" He asked as she opened her eyes the green in them looking startling in the darkness.

There was nothing but love in her eyes as she uttered one word.

"...Yes."


	12. Epilogue

Their forms moved quickly through the water. Meeting the waves as they rolled in leaping out of the water the cold wind icy against their skin as they dove back down.

Angie spun letting out a laugh as bubbles surrounded her as she grabbed onto Derek who kissed her cheek before they separated spinning around each other.

Ethan smirked as he tried to keep up with Marina who was using her new tail to out speed him. Revenge she called it for always using his against her.

"Marina! Get back here!"

"Ah ah ah Ethan." She teased him blowing bubbles in his face before swimming off.

Lisbeth and Allison shook their heads at their children and their partner's. "He's definitely YOUR son." The elder sister smirked as Allison gave her a cold look.

"Oh yeah? What about Derek over there?"

"...Don't even DARE bring my baby into this."

Their argument faded out as they continued the trek to the beach where it all began.

Derek felt a bit of anxiousness go through him as the murky waters appeared around them.

Angie took his hand squeezing it giving him a smile. He returned it.

Their marking's glowing brightly they swam as fast as they could. The two emerged from the deep as the sunset was fading behind them.

Taking a step onto land they looked at each other a bit surprised.

They were human once more. Derek cupped Angie's face in his hands looking into her eyes.

Angie smiled softly as Derek brought his face closer to hers. They kissed softly as a warmth spread through their bodies.

He pulled back pulling her close to his body. "Angie...I never want to lose you..."

She leaned her head on his chest closing her eyes. "You won't Derek...As long as I live...By the bond we made..." She recited.

Derek closed his eyes finishing for her. "By blood, by love...Til death do we part..."

They savored the moment, the sound of the waves rolling in, the smell of the salty sea air, the wind blowing their damp hair around sending chills down their spines. But the moment was perfect in their eyes...They had each other after all.

Until it was ruined. "Derek and Angie sittin' at the bottom of the sea...K.I.S.S.I.N.G!"

"ETHAN!"

The younger male back in his human form turned tail and ran as Derek gave chase. "That's it! You've been teasing me for a full month now! Your gonna get it this time!"

"That's what she said!"

Marina stood next to Angie as she rubbed her temples. "Their like brothers."

"Two annoying brothers." Angie agreed with the girl giving the two a flat look, Ethan squirming as Derek held him in a choke hold giving him a noogie.

"Ow ow OW SKULL! SKULL!" He yelled trying not to laugh as he struggled.

"This is called payback." Derek smirked before letting his cousin go as Ethan stumbled forward slipping on the sand.

"OOF!"

"And that is called revenge." He laughed walking past him.

Ethan grumbled getting up dusting himself off. "I'll get my revenge! Mark my words!" He called over the roar of the incoming tide.

"Hey! Who keyed a V on my car!?"

"Probably Victor mother..Probably Victor..." Derek reached in and picked up his glasses slipping them on. He honestly felt different without them. "Least it's big enough for everyone..."

Lisbeth scowled starting the car. "You wanna go back home and get some fresh clothes merman or go back to Caduceus to show everyone your not dead?" She asked giving her son a serious look as he and Angie got comfortable in the back.

"...Pants first, Caduceus later...And coffee."

Allison climbed in after giving Ethan a warning. She honestly after the scare with Sasaki didn't trust her only child alone in the sea.

That would take some time again.

Soon they pulled up to Derek's apartment building. "You sure you'll be alright by yourself?" Lisbeth asked more so in worry then anything else.

"Mom...I got my key...I got Angie with me...I'll be fine." He gave her a tired look as he got out. "I'll see you later mom...Love you..."

She sighed. "Sorry if I'm being worrisome...Your my baby...I don't want to ever see you in that type of danger again..." Her tone changed from quiet and concerned to angry as her eyes showed it. "You hear me Derek Tobias Stiles? NEVER AGAIN! You ever get that sick or in that much trouble again and face my motherly wrath!"

The others burst out laughing as Derek shook his head. "Yes ma'am. Dooly noted. C'mon Ang..." Angie followed him giggling a little as the van peeled out of the driveway.

"Yeah when she says...Face my motherly wrath...She means it. Dead serious..."

Angie looked around Derek's apartment as he went to change out of the clothes he had entered the sea with.

He was glad to be back in a familiar place. Everything was how he left it that fateful morning. His bed left unmade a pillow on the floor, his sheets half off the bed. He chuckled a little there was a chance he'd have to throw out his coffee pot because of possibly having mold in it from left over coffee.

He couldn't care less at the moment. He was home...He was alive.

He had beaten the odds they had set out for him since he was young.

He had the woman he loved with him..And she loved him back.

Derek couldn't have been happier at the moment. He came back into the living room finding Angie sitting on the couch dozing a little curled up.

He sat next to her pulling her into his arms. The two fell asleep there dreaming of the sea..

Of tails, of dolphins and sharks..Of their love and of what they had been through.

Derek Stiles and Angie Thompson...

Together they were a world class surgical team...

But they had more...They had...

Their...

Heritage.

FIN


End file.
